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Mole's Progressive Democrat

The Progressive Democrat Newsletter grew out of the frustration of the 2004 election. Originally intended for New York City progressives, its readership is now national. For anyone who wants to be alerted by email whenever this newsletter is updated (usually weekly), please send your email address and let me know what state you live in (so I can keep track of my readership).

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Location: Brooklyn, New York, United States

I am a research biologist in NYC. Married with two kids living in Brooklyn.

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  • Saturday, July 28, 2007

    Progressive Democrat Issue 127: THOUGHTS

    Well, I am back from vacation and still catching up.

    One thing struck me while on vacation. Southern California, including Los Angeles, had hardly any smog during the entire 3 weeks we were there. Summer is a peak time for smog in Los Angeles, and to have such perfect conditions for such a long period during summer is astonishing. The air quality was worse in NYC when we left than it was in Los Angeles the whole trip.

    I talked to lots of people about this on the trip. They all said my impression was right: smog is way down in Los Angeles. Some even said straight out that Los Angeles has beaten the smog problem. I bet that is an exaggeration, but something amazing has happened. It took decades, but Los Angeles has cleaned up its air a great deal.

    What has changed? Well, government regulation has been a large part. Smog control devices and emissions standards have been a large part of the solution. It takes time for such things to work as old cars have to be replaced with new cars covered by the new laws. I also notice that there are more and more hybrid cars on the road in Southern California than I have ever seen before...and fewer SUVs, though there are still plenty of those. The busses in Los Angeles have also largely been replaced with clean air busses (bio fuels, CNG, etc.). All of this adds up to a much cleaner, more pleasant city!

    As to the newsletter, I am thinking of dropping it, or at least putting it out less often. It will remain sort of minimalist...which might please some, others might miss the local detail. But I hope it remains useful.

    Anyway, here is this week's newsletter.

    TABLE OF CONTENTS:

    DAILY KOS vs. FOX NEWS

    FOCUS ON MISSISSIPPI: Insurance After Katrina

    REPUBLICAN CHICKENHAWKS

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